How God Answers Prayer

Dear Lord, this morning we thank you for your presence.

We thank you for this wonderful day that you have given us.

We thank you for this chance that we have to study your word together,

together in a place without any fear.

And we pray especially for all of our brothers and sisters around the world

who do not have that privilege.

We pray for every group of people that gathers today

to worship you, to honor you, to hear from your word, to praise you.

And we pray that your Holy Spirit be with everyone.

And those persons that hear for the first time from you,

that they might be drawn towards you

and may accept you as their Lord and Savior.

And those that do know you already,

that they might be built up in their faith.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

My name is Martin.

I am from Paraguay.

My wife Betty is there.

We are married 30 years.

Actually, that will be tomorrow.

We have three sons.

The oldest is 26.

The second 22.

The third is 14.

And except for 10 years that we lived in different parts of the world,

we lived all our life in Paraguay.

Our parents were born in Paraguay, at least mine.

And our grandparents were immigrants,

Soviet Union refugees,

that for some weird reason spoke German.

So, English is obviously not my first language,

not even my second.

So, please forgive my spelling mistakes and pronunciation and so forth.

This month we are talking about prayer.

And last Sunday we had a wonderful explanation on how to pray.

So, I thought I can't add anything to that.

So, how are we supposed to pray?

So, I was decided to focus more on what does God do in answer to our prayers.

So, I don't know if the truth is correct there.

How does God answer to our prayers?

Or how does God answer our prayers?

Whatever.

But I see from Psalm and from many other parts that people who pray to God expect an answer.

So, in Psalm 17 it says,

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me.

Turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

When I was much younger,

we were taught at church that God has three ways to answer us.

He says, sometimes he says yes,

which is what all of us want to hear.

Sometimes he says no.

And sometimes he says wait.

So, I thought, well, that's good.

And when I tried to teach that to my sons,

once they were smart enough to debate me,

they said, well, that covers all the bases.

So, you can, with that answer,

you can always use something of that.

Whenever you pray and you don't get what you want,

okay, God said no or God said wait or whatever.

So, it wasn't very helpful for them.

But I think God hears all our prayers.

I think he answers.

I found seven ways how God answers in the Bible.

There might be others, of course,

but I want to share these ones with you.

First, and that's what most people would like to hear,

God speaks directly sometimes.

And I think all these parts that we have in the Bible

are still, should work, or are working today.

I know people who have heard God's word directly.

And one of these nice conversations that I find in the Bible,

of course, we have to be very selective.

We can't go over everything,

is between Jonah and God.

And it says there, it's in Jonah 4,

but to Jonah, this seemed very wrong,

and he became angry.

He prayed to the Lord.

So, let's use the word, he prayed to the Lord.

Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home?

That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish.

I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,

slow to anger and abounding in love,

a God who relents from sending calamity.

Now, Lord, take away my life,

for it is better for me to die than to live.

But the Lord replied.

So, he speaks directly to Jonah.

Is it right for you to be angry?

And then the conversation goes on.

When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind,

and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint.

He wanted to die and said,

it will be better for me to die than to live.

But God said to Jonah,

is it right for you to be angry about the plant?

It is, he said.

And I'm so angry, I wish I were dead.

But the Lord said,

you have been concerned about this plant.

Though you did not tend it or make it grow,

it sprang up overnight and died overnight,

and so on.

We know that conversation.

So, there is a,

we wish for this to happen.

So that we pray and God speaks to us directly.

At the end of our class,

we will have some minutes that you can share the ways that God has spoken to you.

I know there are some people who have heard God's voice.

In my case, it happened only once.

And where you hear a voice,

and you know it's God,

but you don't know where it comes from.

But it is clear,

and sometimes,

in my case,

it was not as long as this.

It was just one sentence.

So, that is one way.

Okay, here.

Okay, there it goes.

I'm not a good expert either on PowerPoint,

so I had to do it myself.

Before that, when my sons,

the oldest were with me,

they helped me always with that.

God speaks through the Bible.

That is, I think,

what we are most familiar with.

You know, we have some concern,

and so we open the Bible,

and look if the Bible tells anything to us.

And that's what the disciples did.

After Jesus went to heaven,

and they were together,

and there were 11 of them,

and then Peter says,

so it's up and says,

okay, we have to do something here.

And then he quotes two scriptures,

two verses from scripture,

that today,

theologians will be having

a little problem,

maybe saying,

okay, this does not directly speak

to the problem that they are having there.

But he says,

may his place be deserted.

For St. Peter,

it is written in the book of Psalms,

may his place be deserted,

let there be no one to dwell in it.

That was one thing.

And may another take his place

for leadership.

So,

he says,

therefore,

it is necessary to choose

one of the men

who have been with us

the whole time

the Lord Jesus

was living among us.

So,

I don't know

if you are

one of those persons

who says,

okay, Lord,

I need your direction.

You close your eyes,

you open the Bible,

you put your finger

on some verse

and say,

that must be the answer.

And,

sometimes it works,

but most often,

not quite.

There's one lady

in our church

who bought a house

according to that one,

because she didn't know

if she should move

closer to a church or not,

but one day,

she opened the Bible

and read one of the Psalms,

let us go to Jerusalem

to the house of the Lord.

And she says,

okay,

that was the answer.

So,

okay.

I wouldn't,

probably not buy a house

according to one of those verses,

but she did.

It worked for her.

This one,

I think,

we would be most

uncomfortable with.

God speaks

through casting lots.

I mean,

the same verse,

portion that we were

just reading,

continues after that.

When the disciples

had decided,

according to some

Old Testament scriptures,

that they needed

a replacement,

that there couldn't

just be 11 of them,

and then they chose,

according to my opinion,

the wrong guy,

because there it is,

oh no,

here it is,

yeah.

They had one Joseph

called Barzavos,

also known as justice.

So,

that was a person,

in my opinion,

it sounds like a just person,

when you go into Greek.

He has,

he has,

we say in Spanish,

a curriculum,

he has,

he has built something up,

and Matthias.

We don't know anything

about Matthias.

But he got chosen.

And after that,

he never appears

again

in the whole Bible.

So,

we don't know

if he did anything.

We would think,

well,

Paul,

for instance,

would fit much better

with the apostles,

or maybe

Barnabas,

or some of the guys

who are really good,

you know,

who did lots of things.

But,

it was Matthias,

according to this.

So,

you just cast lots.

I know

two churches,

one church

and one seminary,

who chose

their leaders like that.

When the board

was divided,

deadlocked,

okay,

they cast lots.

In the case

of the seminary,

in the case

of the church,

it was the whole

procedure from

the beginning.

Everyone knew

at the end,

there will be

two candidates

and God

will decide

through lots

who will be

our senior pastor.

And according

to the members,

God chose wisely.

You know,

I tell you

because it's

in the Bible.

I'm not suggesting

anything.

This was actually

in Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

God speaks

through dreams.

And

what strikes me

most is that

God so often

speaks to people

in dreams

who are officially

not His people.

Or who officially

don't acknowledge

Him as the only

God in heaven.

God

So we have

a list

from Abimelech,

for instance,

who through

some lie

on Abraham's

side

or of his

wife's side

got together

with Sarah

and then God

had to intervene

because before

something happened

bad,

so He spoke

to him in a dream

and He said,

that woman

that you have

there belongs

to another man

and you should

not have anything

to do with her.

So that's the way

He spoke to them.

Laban or Laban,

I don't know how

you say it in English,

he was the uncle

of Jacob.

He worshipped

other gods

and God speaks

to him in a dream.

We know,

of course,

the story of the

copier and the

baker in the

jail who met

Joseph.

The pharaoh

himself had a dream.

God spoke to him.

A Midianite

soldier

had a dream

where he dreamt

about Gideon.

Nebuchadnezzar

had several dreams,

bad ones

that made

scared him very much.

The Magi

were people

who had a job

that was not

allowed in Israel.

Observing stars

and reading stars

and interpreting

stuff from that.

In the Bible,

the autonomy,

God says

people like that

should be cast

out of Israel,

should be killed.

But then he reveals

himself to them

in a star,

first one,

but once they are

in Bethlehem

or wherever they

went to find Jesus,

that night he speaks

to them in a dream.

Not through stars

or anything,

he speaks in a dream

to them.

And even the wife

of Pilate

had a dream,

seems not a pleasant

one,

because she says

her husband,

let him go,

don't have anything

to do with him.

But of course

God speaks to his

people,

also,

Jacob,

Joseph,

Solomon,

Daniel,

Joseph,

the husband

of Mary.

It always is

interesting to me

that God speaks

once to Mary,

but three times

to Joseph.

I can understand

that.

If he would ask

me to marry

my girlfriend

who is pregnant

from the Holy Spirit,

I mean,

he would have to

talk a lot to me

to convince me

about that one.

But we must be

aware also

that not all

dreams are from

God.

And we were

together at a

seminary in

Europe with my

wife a couple

years ago,

where every

day in the

morning,

people were

invited to share

their dreams.

And the staff

interpreted the

dreams for us.

and some

of us

participants

also wanted

to chip in

and say,

I think it

means that,

but we were

not allowed

to interpret,

only staff

could.

So,

that was

rather an

interesting

experience,

because we

all dream a

lot,

and most of

us don't

think much

about it.

We think,

okay,

psychology

says it's

what you

lived through

the last

days or

hours or

whatever is

on your

mind,

that's what

you're

dreaming.

but maybe

there might

be more

to it as

we think.

Jeremiah

says,

Indeed,

I am against

those who

prophesy

false dreams,

declares the

Lord.

They tell

them and

lead my

people astray

with their

reckless lies,

and yet I

did not send

or appoint

them.

They do

not benefit

these people

in the least,

declares the

Lord.

So,

those people

who just tell

their dreams

and always

say,

I dreamt

something about

you and

so on.

Even God

himself says,

be a little

careful with

that.

But,

there's a

promise from

Joel 2,

and we know

that promise

got fulfilled,

and afterward,

I will pour

out my spirit

on all people.

Your sons and

daughters will

prophesy.

Your old men

will dream

dreams.

So,

I think I'm

almost in that

category already,

you know,

of the dreaming

dreams.

Your young men

will see

visions.

And,

Peter says,

once the

Holy Spirit

falls on the

disciples,

and they

all are

speaking the

gospel,

and everybody

who is there

can understand,

Peter says,

this is the

fulfillment.

This is what

Joel spoke

about.

So,

according to

him,

that happened

in Pentecost

already.

God speaks

also to

visions.

Visions and

dreams are

not the

same.

They are

often paired

in the

Bible,

so they

appear together

in many

verses,

but vision

is something

that a

person sees,

and it can

be in broad

daylight.

It's not a

dream while

you are

sleeping.

and I

know people

who have

seen visions.

To me,

it happened

twice that I

know that I

suddenly see a

picture in

front of me,

and then it

disappears again,

and you

know exactly

what it is,

or you know

most often

what it's

supposed to

be.

So I

just took

one from

Isaiah,

first verse

of the

whole prophet,

the vision

concerning Judah

and Jerusalem,

that Isaiah

son of Amos

saw during

reigns of

all these

kings.

So of

course,

then it

goes on

66 chapters.

That's a

very long

vision,

I should

say a

long list

of visions

that he

saw there.

God

speaks to

open and

also to

closed doors.

Some call

this the

situations or

the opportunities

and so on.

So,

from Paul,

we know,

and I

like to

ask my

students,

how did

Paul know

where he

was going

while he

was led

by the

Holy Spirit?

When they

did their

first missions

trip,

because it's

interesting,

they start,

they don't

go just

like,

okay,

now we

are sent

out by

our church,

let's go

down to

the port,

take the

first ship,

and go

where it

goes.

Actually,

they go

first to

the people

of where

Barnabas

came from.

He came

from that

island,

Cyprus,

in English,

yeah.

That's where

he came

from,

so they

went first

to visit

his people.

But,

normally,

good students

say,

Holy Spirit.

So I

say,

well,

look at

this,

Paul and

his companions

traveled

throughout the

region of

Phyrgia and

Galatia,

having been

kept by the

Holy Spirit

from preaching

the word in

the province

of Asia.

So they

wanted to

preach in

Asia,

but the

Spirit did

not allow

it.

When they

came to

the border

of Mesia,

they tried

to enter

Bithynia,

but the

Spirit of

Jesus would

not allow

them to.

So,

again,

they closed

the door

there.

But then,

in other

parts,

in 1st

Thessalonians,

Paul says,

I wanted

to go to

you,

but Satan

did not

allow me.

So I'm

amazed how

Paul could

tell the

difference.

When is

the Holy

Spirit

closing a

door,

and when

it is

Satan?

I only

know when

the door

is closed.

And,

well,

probably the

difference

isn't

that much

important,

because if

the door

is closed,

it's closed.

But Paul

had this

capacity of

discerning

who had

closed the

doors.

So,

in this

case,

two doors

got closed

to Paul,

and it

was after

that that

he had

this vision

at night

from this

guy from

Macedonia

who were

calling him

come and

help us

there.

So,

through these

closed doors

where he

could not

go in,

he understood

that he

had to go

somewhere else.

and,

when we

wanted to

go to

the United

States to

study many

years ago,

it was

very easy

for God

to close

doors.

Because I

told him,

you know,

we are so

dependent on

you,

not just

because of

finances,

because of

visa.

There

isn't

anything you

can do

as

Paraguayan

to get a

U.S.

American

visa.

You

depend

completely

on

God

in

first

place

and

on

the

mood

of

the

person

in

front

of

you

who

does

the

interview

with

you

at

the

embassy

and

so on.

So,

we said,

if you

get us

through that,

we understand

when the

door is

open,

we can

go in.

If not,

we go to

some other

place.

And,

the

seventh

way of

speaking,

God speaks

through other

persons.

In the

Bible,

he did

that often

to

prophets.

But,

it doesn't

need always

to be a

prophet.

And,

I will

speak to

that

in a

personal

short

testimony.

I'm

trying to

refrain

myself

to give

an example

to each

of those.

So,

I will

just give

one here.

In

Acts

21,

we have

this

interesting

experience.

After

we had

been there

a number

of days,

a prophet

named

Agabus

came down

from

Judea,

coming

over

to

us,

he took

Paul's

belt,

tied his

own hands

and feet

with it,

and said,

the Holy

Spirit says,

in this

way,

the Jewish

leaders in

Jerusalem will

bin the

owner of

this belt,

and will

hand him

over to

the Gentiles.

So,

that was

very specific.

But,

the problem

is,

when we

think that

Paul said,

okay,

then I'm

not going

to Jerusalem,

he said,

well,

thank you for

the information.

I knew that

all along,

the Holy

Spirit told

me in

every part

that that

will happen,

so I

will just

keep going.

Even though

his whole

entourage,

his whole

team told

him not

to go to

Jerusalem,

Paul didn't

take this

as an

advice from

God for

not going

there.

For him,

it was just

a piece of

information,

you know,

okay,

or confirmation.

Okay,

we know what

will happen

there.

So,

often,

I'm

teaching at

a seminary

for,

this would

be if I

was at

a seminary,

I started

teaching 27

years ago,

we married

very young,

so,

these days,

most people

would not

get married

during college

years,

I think,

but at

that time,

we were

thinking,

being poor

alone and

being poor

together,

what's the

difference?

So,

let's just

being poor

together and

have fun

while we

are being

poor and

whatever.

So,

what I want

to say,

my two

oldest sons

are older

than me

at this

point,

when I

got married

and they

are still

single,

I'm fine

with that.

Just get

your bases

down and

so on.

Yeah,

very,

very,

yeah,

I'm the

student,

so I

had the

privilege for

over 20

years,

always having

young students

in classes

who always

want to

know,

how does

God speak

to me?

So,

I tell

them these

seven things

and often

I,

we end up

at the

seventh.

I say,

just go to

some people

that you

consider

mature,

spiritual

Christians

and ask

them for

advice.

And God

speaks through

them.

in the

year 2011,

I was

taking my

first

sabbatical

in Paraguay

it is

very unusual

to take

a sabbatical

so that

means you

don't get

paid.

You have

to find

your own

way to

live during

that

sabbatical.

In my

case,

it even

meant I

had to

step down

from the

position I

was director

of a

seminary

because they

said,

well,

we don't

have

sabbaticals,

if you

want to

take a

year off,

you have

to step

down.

I did

that because

I was so

convinced that

God wanted

me to

take a

sabbatical.

So during

that year,

we had to

decide what

we will do

next year.

In Paraguay,

the appointments

all run

from January

to December.

I mean,

everything starts

with January,

not like here

because right

now we have

summer there.

So it's

all just

the way

around it,

like here.

School year

starts in

February,

ends in

end of

November

and so

on.

So I

got three

proposals,

three offers,

job offers,

very good

ones,

and people

wanted me

by the

end of

June to

tell them

which one

I will

have so

that they

had another

six months

to look

for some

other person.

So I

was very

thankful

that the

Lord didn't

abandon me

and say,

okay,

there's

enough work

to do.

But I

didn't feel

very good

with any

of these

offers.

They were

good,

but not

exactly what

I was

thinking would

fit me

and my

concerns and

so on.

So I

was invited

to

Colombia,

Bogota,

Colombia,

for a

big

revival

meeting.

There's a

church that

they claim

that sits

25,000.

It's a

bunch of

factories that

they bucked

together and

threw out the

walls and

made.

It's called

the city

of God

because even

the aisles

are numbered

and have

names so

that you

don't get

lost once

you go to

the bathroom

and you

find your

way back

again.

It's a

huge place.

I didn't

count if

there were

25,000 in

it, but

I believe

it.

So

preachers

were very

charismatic

and had

this

Pentecostal

touch that

I don't

like very

much during

preaching when

they always

say,

tell your

neighbor,

God is

great.

Tell your

neighbor,

God made

you beautiful

and tell

your neighbor

this and

tell the

person next

to you

that and

tell the

person,

I don't

know what

else.

So I

usually

participate

once or

twice in

that.

I think

it's

ridiculous

because the

person heard

what the

preacher was

saying and

I think

the preacher

is just

using that

to think

what he

will say

next.

So usually

I tell

the person,

God is

great,

you are

great,

and after

that,

after I

have done

it once

or twice

or three

times max

that I

just,

I mean,

you heard

what he

said.

But one

of these

occasions,

I had

prayed before

the trip,

it was at

the end

of June,

I prayed

to God,

please show

me on

this trip

which one

of these

offers I

have to

accept,

which one

would be

the one

that you

want me

to take

on.

So suddenly

the preacher

says again,

tell the

person next

to you,

I show

them my

thumb up

to my

neighbor,

and he

turns to

me and

says,

God says,

don't move

until I

tell you

so.

I don't

know if

that makes

sense to

you,

but that's

what I

heard God

saying.

He didn't

know me,

I didn't

know him,

it was

not what

the preacher

had said,

of course

not.

So,

he didn't

know if

it made

sense to

me,

I didn't

tell him

that it

made a

lot of

sense to

me,

but it

scared me

also a

little.

I came

back home

and I

called all

the three

places and

told him I

would not

take it,

which is

very

not

responsible

for a

person who

has a

family.

So,

you are

six months

short of

your

sabbatical,

you don't

have anything,

July passed,

all of it,

half of

August passed,

and nothing,

and then I

was in,

we have in

Paraguay,

we have every

year a

national

marathon of

prayer,

where the

whole country,

well,

all the

Christians in the

country are

invited to

pray for

24 hours,

and in

that

gathering,

the

president of

the

Pastors

Association

of

Paraguay

invited me

for a

meeting

together

with

another

guy

who

runs

a

foundation,

a

ministry,

and they

told me,

you know,

we have so

many pastors

in Paraguay

who have

never had a

chance to

go to a

Bible school,

and we

need to do

something with

them.

They

didn't tell

me anything

new,

I had

done a

survey,

for a

U.S.

American

university,

so I

knew the

percentage,

I knew

that 90%

of pastors

in Paraguay

never had

any formal

theological

training.

So they

are standing

every Sunday

before a

church,

not knowing

what they

are doing,

basically,

or not

knowing what

they should

do.

A church

like this,

that has

at least

three

well-educated

pastors

would be

a huge

luxury

in Paraguay.

It would

almost be

admirable

to have

that.

You should

split those

pastors and

send them

somewhere else.

But I

know the

situation is

different.

So during

the next

month,

the Lord

gave me

a vision

for what

we call

the Aquila

and Priscilla

Institute.

And you

might ask,

is there

anything wrong

with formal

theological

training?

I don't

think there

is anything

wrong with

it,

but we

know,

at least

in Paraguay,

it's elitist,

only a few,

very few

people can

go there.

It's

expensive,

it's

geographically

bound,

you have to

go to

the capital

city to

go to

that

seminary,

you are

there confined

for a

couple of

years,

and it

often doesn't

produce the

kind of

leaders we

wish for.

At least

that's what

always the

churches tell

us,

saying,

you know,

we had a

pastor that

went there

and it's

not quite

what we

were thinking

and so

on.

So is

there a

need for

an

alternative?

When you

have 90%

of churches

that don't

have a

pastor,

there is

a need

for it.

In

2016,

there was

a congress

in Thailand

that I was

able to

attend where

it says

that the

number

worldwide

is at

85%.

So

Paraguay

is a

little

worse

than the

average

in the

world.

The

United

States

is a

lot

better

than the

rest of

the world

because most

of the

churches

have

pastors

who went

to seminary.

So

since most

pastors don't

have academic

preparation to

go to an

institution of

higher education,

it means they

never finished

high school.

We even have

pastors who

can't read

or write

and you ask

yourself,

so how do

they preach?

preach.

I

discovered

they preach

by memory.

They have

some 50

or 100

or 150

verses in

their mind

that they

heard and

that's their

whole repertoire

what they

are preaching

by.

And so

you don't

have to

wonder if

the sermons

are repeating

themselves

regularly.

They don't

have the

finances to

pay for

this excellent

but highly

elitist

kind of

education.

the possibility

to relocate

their families

to one of

the bigger

urban centers

leaving their

church unattending

during the

absence,

they don't

have that.

And on

the other

hand,

82% of

pastors in

Paraguay

cannot live

with what

the church

pays them.

So they

have to

have jobs

besides

the church.

So that

is when we

founded the

Aquila and

Priscilla

Institute.

According to

Acts 18,

I like that

so much,

there came

this guy

Apollos who

was a

very good

speaker,

but he

had limited

knowledge.

And instead

of exposing

him before

the whole

church,

laughing about

him or

discussing

him and

saying,

you know,

this guy

is a good

speaker but

he doesn't

have any

knowledge,

you shouldn't

listen to

him.

It says

that Aquila

and Priscilla

took him

beside and

explained him

the way and

everything that

had happened

so far.

And with

that new

knowledge,

she got

sent out

to Corinth

and he

had a

very

successful

ministry

there,

so that

even the

church in

Corinth

later on

became

known that

someone said

they were

followers of

Apollos and

some of

Paul and

so on.

You know,

I mean,

he had

almost the

same impact

as Paul

there.

But I

like what

Aquila and

Priscilla did

and we

have them

together in

the Institute

because we

always want,

if a pastor

gets training,

that his

wife comes

with him